I've come to the realization...

that I don't cook. I used to think that I made quite a bit. We weren't eating take out and we were getting fed... so I must have been cooking the food.

So here is the the question- if you have dumped a bag of macaroni into the pot and dumped a jar of sauce into another pot have you cooked a meal? Sometimes I would heat up a loaf of pre- buttered garlic bread, too. Not always and I did make quite a bit of our bread and baking, but certainly not 100%.

I don't think I'm the only one, either. I think I am of a generation of people that think they can cook, but really only know how to open a can.

I realize this might sound insulting and I don't mean to be insulting, but just consider what I'm saying for a moment. Go to your pantry and count how many cans and boxes there are.

Until we started eating gluten free food I thought I was preparing quite a bit myself- I would have said 75% or more. Now I know I'm preparing 75% or more.

I am still using canned corn and tomato sauce, but all of our other vegetables are fresh. I am now making all my own flour and cornmeal. Most of our meat is wild or organic, but we are still eating a little boneless skinless chicken breast- maybe two or three times a month. I use one chicken breast per meal.

It makes me vaguely queasy when I reach into a bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It's not really natural, is it? Where are the skin and bones? Where is the REST of the chicken? Of course- I'm like everyone! I don't want to eat the fatty skin! No one wants to eat the fatty skin!

So if I thought it was work before to feed the family it is certainly work now. Everything takes a great deal of planning and forethought. If I want to make bread or something with flour I have make sure that I have the flour or make the flour. The beans have to be soaked and cooked (no more canned beans!) The grains might need to be soaked or toasted and they might need an hour to cook. They might not, depending on the grain, but they might!

I used to be able to cook a meal from start to finish in 20-30 minutes, but now I'm happy if my prep time is 20-30 minutes. Cooking real food takes real time.

I can see how we ended up in this situation because it is a lot of work to have a full time job and still prepare a family's meals from basic ingredients. Working women demanded that life get easier and food manufacturers listened. Perhaps they listened a little too well...

Clean up day

We took a LOT of stuff to Value Village this morning and did the recycling.

It is amazing how clearing out the junk from each room can make such a difference. The house is a lot easier to keep clean and enjoy with there is less stuff in it.

And now a recipe because you are probably hungry for something gluten free!

A basic, but versatile batter

1 cup of stone ground brown rice flour
1/2 cup of stone ground corn meal
2 cups of soy milk + 2 tbsp of lemon juice

Whisk the flour and cornmeal together and add the soymilk and lemon juice mix. Whisk until it is all mixed together.

Since it is gluten free there is no possible way to overmix this. Stirring will only improve it. It will keep in the refrigerator at overnight and probably longer.

This is enough batter to make onion rings from two onions. You can also mix grated vegetables together and make veggie fritters OR if you stir apple chunks into it and fry it you can make an acceptable apple fritter substitute. I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on my apple fritters.

You could probably make this with any milk or flour, but I never have so won't tell you that you can. Sometimes a little comfort food goes a long way when you are living in a gluten free world!

It is just that kind of week...

I thought things were looking up when THREE maintenance men were at my door before 9:00 am to fix the plumbing and stove. Now- I haven't had a working oven in a year and I don't really care. I've done just fine without it. All day they had one person after another trying to figure out what could be wrong.

At 4:00 they replace my stove with one from another unit. The one they brought was MUCH cleaner than the one they took away. Okay- so I'm not much of a housekeeper. It didn't work and I didn't clean it. My mother doesn't know about this blog... and you can be sure there is not a year old french fry in the drawer under HER oven... :-)

So- just in time for supper. It was pretty exciting stuff. We turned on the little button and WOW! There is a LIGHT inside the oven. I guess that is so you can see how clean it is.

That is when things started to fall apart, blog fans! The large, back burner doesn't work. Okay, maybe (MAYBE!) I could deal if a small back burner doesn't work, but not the large one! I *NEED* all the burners so this is a CRISIS. A crisis. I was better off before they 'helped' me and that is the way it usually goes in my life so I wasn't one bit surprised.

This morning the power went off for an hour so that was pretty dramatic. It was -27 C outside so we wrapped up in blankets and tried to get friendly with the furry dog. We did find out that dh didn't have the correct medication in the emergency kit, though. Don't I always tell you to inventory your emergency kit every three months because a lot can happen in three months!

Tomorrow is another day... and hopefully a nice, quiet, warm day...

I'm tired of this winter thing now...

You might think that I'm kidding, but I'm not!

I fell last week *AND* the week before and now I'm a whiny painful lump. I do have a rather small, but spectacular bruise on my upper arm, though, as proof of my inability to walk on ice!

This morning I demanded that my husband end winter. He did not comply. He gently reminded me that winter is at least half over (HA!) and I just had to make it through February. My sister, Jam-Jam is coming in February so that should help pass the month, but I don't think I'm going to make it through long, cold, dark January first.

Ick.

Well I've had a busy week!

First I was working, then my bulk order came in, then the annual suite inspection notice came THEN yesterday I feel on the ice as I was walking home. Tonight is my last night then I have the weekend off and I'm going to lie quietly and recover from it all.

The good news is that I've got a large stock of food (AND 50 lbs of popcorn for snacks...), I passed the inspection yesterday AND the house is still mostly clean.

The kids were a big help and I've told them that I think it should be pretty easy to keep it up if they all help to maintain it.

There is so much food in the house we can't decide what to cook so half the time we end up eat fruit and nuts and or seeds. :-) I'm going to start trying some new things with stone ground cornmeal, though, so maybe I'll have something to report on that soon.

Trying new things

I found a cook book on Sunshine's book shelf- Extending the Table- recipes and stories from Argentina to Zambia in the spirit of More with Less, by Joetta Handrich Schlabach.

I bought this cookbook TWO years ago... and I don't think I've ever used it. I didn't use it because I couldn't find it and it didn't occur to me that she would have it. Anyway!

It is full of wonderful, cheap meals and stories from other countries (which would be wonderful on a country day or in a unit study...)

I learned that if you take corn tortilla shells and heat them up in a dry cast iron pan that they get soft and really tasty. They get soft enough that you can fold them into a quesadilla or to serve for people to make their own tacos. This is HUGE at our house because we are missing wraps.

I never would have found that out, though, if I hadn't opened the new book and read the whole thing and tried some of the ideas that I found. I think that is really the best way to be frugal - try new things!

The treadmill is fixed!

YAY! I walk to and from work most days and it is pretty safe to say that I walk a minimum of about 10 kms/ week so I thought my fitness level wouldn't slip TOO much. HOLY COW - did I embarrass myself. Good thing dh was the only one to see me ...

I did a heart rate interval program... After 10 minutes it automatically shut off because my heart rate was too high and I was at risk of a heart attack. :-/ I wasn't really at risk! Come on! I'm young! I can do 165 bpm no problem!

I reset and did 2 kms uphill- not a lot, but I burned 246 calories so that isn't bad for 20 minutes.

I'm a lot calmer and more relaxed... well... TIRED... so that is good. I'm going to keep exercising because it could save a life... you know... dh's maybe! :-)

January... the longest, coldest, most depressing month of the year...

Why can't there be a stat holiday in the middle of January. We could really use some New Year festivities about 3-4 weeks after Christmas, don't you think?

It's been warmer for a couple days, but it generally isn't a cause for local celebration. School buses are cancelled and people stay home because it's icy.

I've sat here for a while trying to think of something cheery... but no... I've got nothing.

January is cold, gray and depressing.

The great thing about decluttering...

is that you find things! I found a couple inspirational CDs that I don't think I've listened two more than once. The other thing I found was an envelope full of receipts. Is THIS the $500 in receipts that I think I submitted in the the fall? =8-o Whoops!

You wouldn't think a person could lose $500... but there it is. I did.

Decluttering helps you get down to the things that you really need and want. You don't have to re-buy things you've lost.

I like the show Hoarders. Apparently hoarding is increasing because people are unwilling to let go of things if they don't have money to buy more. Of course hoarding is a mental illness and a much further extreme than most of us would ever go to, BUT... it all starts somewhere.

The state of a person's home reflects what is going on in their lives and in their minds. When times are tough it is not the time to start keeping things - it is time to start sharing.

Supporting the Local Economy...

Well holidays are over and it is back to homeschool! January is always the time that I do a skills check and kick things up a notch.

Brown Bear needs to work on writing and spelling and Schmidt needs to work on math. It is a bit of a mutiny every morning, but that is okay. I don't expect anyone to enjoy the subjects they aren't good in - they just have to DO them. I just heard homeschool moms all over North America go, "Ohhhhhh... :-("

TRUST ME- when they get to be teenagers they might not like it AND they still have to do it. :-)

So we walked down to the homeschool store and looked around. A new book never hurts. ;-P Brown Bear sat on the floor of the store and read it for about 10 minutes so he's probably going to remain interested in it.

Then we went to the quirky new and used bookstore across the street and Sunshine got a couple classics. They have two comfy couches and a wide array of interesting (and sometimes strange) merchandaise.

THEN we went to the caring shop and looked around. The caring shop has traditional art and crafts made by local native elders. 90% of the proceeds go to the artists. Sunshine bought three pieces of jewellery and is quietly making plans to go back and buy more some other day.

We are blessed with a vibrant downtown and we support local businesses as much as we can. It is a good time to look after your neighbours. :-)

If ever there were a job that needed a union...

It's motherhood! Boy, is my family lucky there isn't a union because the union rep in my head is yelling STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!

The boys thought that maybe something was wrong this morning when I left in the middle of school, this morning, with a LOOK in my eye. Dh thought something was wrong when he came home and the bedroom door was locked. Sunshine knew something was wrong and offered to sit with me and make tea. :-)

6 hours later if you asked the men in this house what the problem was I'm pretty sure they don't know, but the boys did go clean the basement. I suspected that their father passed on the Ancient Wisdom of Men - "I don't know what the heck is wrong with her, but if you clean your room and stay out of her way it will probably blow over! :-) "

Sigh...

Grandma Olive

There are people in the world that think I'm a little bit frugal. They didn't know my Grandma Olive. Grandma lived through the Great Depression (if ever an era was more aptly named I don't know about it!) and was always poised for another one.

The thing about my Grandma is she was raised on a farm and knew how to do things. *I* was raised in the 70's. We did do a little gardening and my mom did bake bread and make soup, but I never realized until I was in my twenties that maybe mushroom soup didn't have to come out of a red and white can.

I still have these little moments where I realize I don't know how to do things! I've just learned how to pop popcorn on the stove AND convert those popcorn kernels into cornmeal. Honestly! Cornmeal is just ground, dried corn. Why in the world would I pay money for that?!

Since we've gone gluten free I've started thinking about food as being broken down into it's most basic parts. Food is a lot simpler at my house because it takes longer to prepare. Most of the time I don't eat meat (if I'm serving it) but I'm not a restaurant. There might be a couple choices, but they are basic choices.

Which brings me back to - why would I pay money for cornmeal? Or rice flour? Or microwave popcorn? I can tell you now that I am never going to be as frugal as Grandma Olive was... but I'm never going to go back to buying common things, either.

Thoughts on credit cards and all their tricky ways...

Okay - everyone who knows me knows that I have, in the past called Visa the Thieving Rat Bastards Visa. I'm a little more mature now. If they are thieves then I gave them the key to my house and told them where all my money was. They put the credit card application in my hand, but they didn't take it out of the wallet for me. Granted I had help... a lot of HELP from dh, but that isn't Visa's fault either.

But let's talk about their tricky ways...

The interest rate- 6 months ago I phoned them and asked for a credit card that was lower in interest. They did indeed have one for people with a 'small balance' of $20,000 or less. (Holy Cats, Batman!) The interest rate was half and the minimum payment was 2/3. You don't have to be a math genius to figure out that they don't EVER want you to pay off the balance. I did get the lower interest credit card. There is a $20 annual fee and no rewards. I can buy my own rewards with what I'm saving in interest!

The payment holiday- if you start to pay more than usual they 'reward' you with a payment holiday. Don't worry, that interest payment will still be there for you next month. :-)

The minimum payment- when you pay more than usual the minimum payment drops. Of course you've paid off some of your debt so your interest payment has dropped. If they wanted you to pay it off (EVER) they would leave the minimum payment alone while the interest rate dropped. The difference between my interest payment and minimum payment is $10. TEN DOLLARS. It would only take 78 years to pay it off... what a deal!

The payment due date- Have you noticed that your utility bills are often due on the same day every month. Mine are, anyway! Perhaps Visa hopes you will lose track and they will have to charge you a late payment fee *and* more interest.

The credit limit- When you start paying off debt your credit limit suddenly rises. Is it because you are such a good customer and you have such a good credit rating? That nice feeling you have... that is your ego being stroked. You aren't a good customer. You are a BAD customer and that is why they don't want to lose you.

Advertisements- There advertisements on the bill that encourage you to use credit. Be sure to use your credit card on your vacation. Be sure to check out our credit rewards.

Cash advances- So it's not QUITE a payday loan. But come on! What do you need so badly that you would take a cash advance on your credit card for it?! =8-o

Visa cheques- They mail cheques right to your house and encourage you use them for renovation, vehicle or home down payment. Home down payment... the only house you will be buying is a house of cards. :-)

So, yes, they are thieves... but *I* handed them the weapon and now I'm handing over my money one payment at a time.

The cushion

What I've discovered is that I like a nice, fat cushion. The cushion is my term for the money that is left in the bank at the end of the month before your paycheque electronically flies into your account.

The absolute thinnest cushion that I can handle is equal to one month's rent. The money for the rent HAS to be in the account before I get paid. It absolutely MUST because my cheque is not enough to cover the rent and I can't ever have a day where I'm not POSITIVE that I can make the rent.

I am working on building that back up to one month's rent and bills and enough food in the house for a couple months. This is really where the bare minimum should be. A comfortable place for me is three months rent and expenses. (This does not include other, long term savings and retirement money)

Plenty of people have said to me in the last year that they don't have an emergency fund and they can't afford to save for one. I say you can't afford NOT to save for one. Dh did get EI, but it took EI twelve weeks to send him a first cheque. If we hadn't had that money in the bank we would have been homeless. We did have more than we needed in the bank because I was working, but my income only covers about half of our expenses. We really were living on savings for three months.

If your family only has a single income or you are self employed or have seasonal employment then you *NEED* a very fat cushion for times when there is no work. The only money you can count on is already in your bank account- not in future earnings, property, investments or government assisstance.

Balance- a thought for the New Year.

I decided this afternoon that my word for the year is going to be "Balance" The last two years it was "Joy." The second year of trying "Joy" didn't work out so well- though to be fair to "Joy" it was a tough year.

I figure that I probably don't need joy - I probably need balance. This is something I have always struggled with. The sad fact is that I was raised in an all or nothing kind of way and that is how I have always lived.

The fact is that we are probably going to be paying off this debt for another couple of years and the kids will probably all be gone in 3 years. Is this how I really want life to be? I'm not so sure!

I'm going to try a monthly debt repayment of $15% and savings of 10%. I am only including my income and dh's EI (or hopefully future income) not CTB (Child tax benefit), Working family whatever rebate that comes twice a year or rent that I get from the girls. I can not count on those as 'income' and was caught in the summer when my CTB dropped by 3/4. I plan to continue putting any extra money like income tax refund and school refund against the debt.

The 'extra' money should provide a little cushion each month and allow for some fun. I told the boys that they should think of something fun that we could do this month. They are sort of out of practice, I think... It probably helps that everyone we know is in the same boat and broke. They don't feel like it is just US. Oh, yeah, and I raised the food budget to $700. You know what is fun for me? Having enough food in the house! I'll be able to do it for less in a couple months or so, but in January vegetables are just more expensive and there is nothing I can do about it.

I am going to order a Good Food Box for next month and see if they are better shoppers than I am. I have had good feedback about them in other communities, but fresh things are expensive, here, so the amount a person can get for $15 is a lot less.

Now to switch gears back to debt!

My goals for last year were:

1. Graduate both girls in 2009 - Done! In fact, I placed my hand gently on Sunshine's head this week and declared her graduated. Without the official *bop* from mom you are still a student.

2. Pay off the Am. Ex.- Done! Between Am.Ex., Direct Energy and Chrysler Finance we paid off about $15,000 in debt this year.

3. Save for the Olympics- Done, but decided to be an adult and NOT take the time off work. Part of being a responsible adult is giving up your lifelong dream of going to the Olympics and working on your other lifelong dream of being debt free. My sister, Jam-tastic is coming to stay with me for a week so we can watch it on TV.

Goals for 2010

1. Pay off the Visa ($9363 and change.) I can probably do it, but not with a 15% debt repayment schedule if dh doesn't have a job.

2. To save as much as I can every month - with 10% as a goal. Any savings are good savings, though! I want to make it a fixed expense.

3. Improve my fitness level. As a broad goal ... to be able to run 3 kms and do 5 kms in about 35 minutes or less.

So that is how things are shaping up for me in the new year- well balanced... :-)